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How to minimize space to prevent beetle infestation

I read in in Bee Culture magazine where a guy was saying to keep no more space than the bees can protect....when you put on a super it can make more space than you have bees to protect and lets the SHB roam free....I had this happen last year after I had put a super on my hive. In about 2 weeks the hive was taken over and obsconded, they had just started to build comb and add a small amount of honey in the super...So how can you minimize space with 2 deeps and the nectar flow is on....you have to add a super, don't you? I don't understand how this can be done...maybe remove frames with no brood?

From what I'm seeing we're going to have an early spring my fruiting pear and bradford pear is starting to bloom, my forsythia and buttercups are blooming....I need to find out what to do before the nectar flow starts.

Re: How to minimize space to prevent beetle infestation

Most likely something else went wrong about the same time as you added your super last year. If you wait until the lower box is almost full then add your super you should be ok. Normally you won't have a problem with beetles as your colony is growing.

Re: How to minimize space to prevent beetle infestation

I heard from some people that say caulk the corners of the box eliminating 90 degree angles. The beetles lodge themselves in those corners and the bees can stop them. When its caulked, the beetles can't wedge themselves in. I'm going to give it a try this year and see what happens. It will at least eliminate one of their common hiding places.

Re: How to minimize space to prevent beetle infestation

You did'nt mention the use of beetle traps. And I think the bees use the corners to corral the beetles in one place. Till we open up for inspection then they run for it, an into a trap to hide we hope.

Re: How to minimize space to prevent beetle infestation

I use beetle traps. Stick them in, toss in some vegetable oil, and forget about them for a while. I had SHB decimate a hive last year, and I think the only thing that saved it was splitting the hive down into two nucs and freezing every frame that had a trace of them. I was able to recombine into one hive in the fall and (as of my last midwinter check) they were doing fine, but a couple bucks for the trap is worth not having that happen again. Obviously if you're running on a large scale, that's not a possibility, but I don't think I'll ever get large enough to have it be cost/time prohibitive.

Re: How to minimize space to prevent beetle infestation

I have the Freeman's beetle trap, but I took the pan out because of winter freezing, and since it's been cold I hardly ever see but one or two beetles, I am sure they are hidden in the cluster....Now I went down to the hive a few minutes ago and saw something that worries me and puzzles me... I have been feeding the bees with a outside jar feeder when I can, we have been having a lot of rain lately, sometimes when I skip a couple of days because of rain, when I go to the hive there will be a few bees still going to the empty feeder looking for food. I haven't been able to feed them since Weds., when I went down there a few minutes ago, there were a few bees going into the empty feeder. What worries me is, looking at the front entrance to the hive, I see a few dead bees a couple of white larva, and trying to look into the entrance you can't see because the bees are going beyond the bottom of the frames and onto the screen of the bottom board....I'm not sure if there are a lot of dead bees on the bottom, or if the cluster has overflowed onto the bottom board...I reversed my deeps 2 weeks ago, because the top had about 55-60 pounds of honey, and the queen had moved into the top, laying. the bottom deep was light as a feather. So could the bees be clustered on the bottom getting the honey or what?

I want to check the hive but was trying to wait until tomorrow, since it's been raining for 2 days and nights and there is still a fine mist, but it is supposed to be 66F and sunny tomorrow. I am going to go and fill the feeder for them in a few minutes, but not sure if I should go ahead and check or wait until tomorrow....

When I went down to the hive, there were about a dozen bees going into the empty feeder and I brought them a quart of syrup. It looked like the cluster was just low in the deep, I think I might have seen another hive like that before, I can't remember for sure... Just gonna wait and check them tomorrow.

Last edited by Beewildered61; 02-23-2013 at 03:17 PM.
Reason: more info